


Where The Cards Fall

by SentimentalRewind



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-15 06:58:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4597182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SentimentalRewind/pseuds/SentimentalRewind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You were never cut out for diplomat’s work from the start; you worked hard to build up the reputation of being invisible all of your life. Unfortunately for you, fate’s hand had a way of cutting in and throwing you for a loop when you are detained and sold into slavery. Armed with only your wits, it makes for a high action adventure for you to return home. </p><p>You end up in the care of Yami— the king of Aknamkanon— and place a bet with the Dark Magician to protect him from harm’s way until summer’s end of the following year. If you abide in his wishes, the magician will grant you safe passage home. Of course, this would be a much simpler task if the king was not so aloof, not to mention that he demands his solitude and you are sworn to secrecy by a duel monster. You are starting to think you were not quite cut out for this job. DISCONTINUED, but I'm keeping it up in case people still want to read.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. On The Chain

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun coming up with this one! As an aside, the reader's pronouns are kept ambiguous, so read whatever way you would like. When it comes to mature content, other than some battle violence, you will have some sexual encounters with Yami— that I can guarantee. They just will not happen until much later.
> 
> As for a schedule, I am thinking to update this every Monday. *crosses fingers* I hope you enjoy!

The other slaves’ talk inside of the pen had become white noise over the last couple of days. When it came for any subject worthy of conversation, the most they would talk about was the next time the guards would come in and bring another helping of weak stew and bread. Under any other circumstance, the prospect of being fed would have brightened your sprits; sitting down for a meal with your family was always the highlight to your dreary afternoons.

Getting captured was not too horrible, in all honesty. The other slaves in the enclosure had been utterly confused when you gave away your meals; the only thing keeping you alive at that point was the small amount of water you were given to drink every so often. Whenever you could, you would purposely trip into another slave to get batted around or fall on the floor to mar your skin. You figured if you were going to get sold, the quickest way back home would be through a lackluster owner. You did not want to end up being someone’s bed warmer and the more troublesome you looked, the less likely you would have been bought for pleasure.

With that in mind, your time waiting to be sold had been spent planning your escape. You could have fled directly from the slave pen if you wanted to, but there were too many risks involved. You were in far too feeble of a state to fight anyone off by now and you had run out of time to figure out the guard’s shifts. By the next morning, you were going to be put up for auction. If you were lucky, you would get bought and made a serf on a small barony; that would make it easier for you to steal some money, buy a change of clothes and board the next ship home. You did not like to think of the odds that someone with more money and power would buy you and make it impossible for you to run away. You had heard of some masters using magic to keep their slaves near their side; if they strayed too far without their master’s permission, they would trigger a spell that would kill them instantly.

You shuddered. You had to believe you would return home without a hitch.

The groan of metal caught your attention and you looked up just in time to see a group of guards in front of the pen’s gate. In their hands, they held a handful of bread loaves and one pot of watered soup. The slaves raced to grab their bowls they had been issued upon capture and started toward the guards. Slowly, you pushed your body up from the floor and waded into the crowd. You did not bother to bring your bowl; you were more focused on getting some extra gruesome cuts and bruises before tomorrow came.

When the guards flooded in, they sent in one group to push the slaves back and another to put the food on the ground; once the pots had been left and the guards had cleared the pen, the slaves rushed forward to get their well deserved pittance. In that time, you made yourself a target for any elbow, fist or foot. You were forced to stop when someone broke your nose and blackened your eye. You managed to come out of the crowd in one piece, but there were only small patches of your skin that were not damaged. You hobbled as far away from the pen’s gate as possible and went to work on your nose. Immediately, you moved the cartilage back into place so it would not heal entirely crooked. Your eyes watered and your nose burned but you managed to endure it.

“Well, that was stupid,” a voice above you murmured. You looked up through your swollen eye to see a woman with tousled blond curls hold out a piece of bread to you; in her other hand was a bowl of water and a rag. “You’re gonna have some nice scars after that stunt you pulled.”

Carefully, you took the piece of bread and chewed. Your mouth was sore from getting hit, so eating was a lot more of a challenge than you thought. When you finished, the woman soaked the cloth in some water and went to dab at your wounds. “No one’s gonna want you now, kiddo. The only people who will be willing to buy you are either poor or like to see people in pain.”

You snorted. “Good, I’ll be branded as quarrelsome. I didn’t want to end up in someone’s sheets.”

“You planned this?” she frowned and cleaned the blood off your cupid’s bow. “You would’ve gotten fed, clothed and kept warm. It’s better than working under the hot sun anyway.”

“If I got bought by a good master,” you countered.

The woman considered her words carefully before she settled down next to you and wrung out the rag; you were glad you were unable to see your face, seeing as a lot of blood had already accumulated in the water bowl. “Were you always this mad or did a few days in this pen do that to you?”

You mustered the best smile you could. “I’ve been told it runs in the family.”

Mai was quite the character. After she cleaned up your wounds, the two of you talked for the next couple of hours about any happy trifles that would keep your mind busy. You found out Mai had been caught earlier this afternoon and one of the first things she saw was your beautifully tragic face. In all honesty, you wanted to take a nap so that your brain would be fully functioning by tomorrow morning but Mai was relaxing and you dared to say you were having _fun_ chatting with her.

It was well into the night and the rest of the slaves were sleeping on the floor, but you stayed up with Mai to talk to her a little bit more. You kept your voice at a whisper and asked, “How’d you end up here, anyway?”

Mai cringed and folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to talk about, [Name].”

“Oh, come on,” you pouted. ”It can’t be that bad. Do you remember who you’re looking at?”

You pointed at your puffy eye; Mai weighed her odds. Then, she readjusted her back against the pen wall and pushed some of her bangs out of her face. “Have you ever heard duel monsters?”

You did not know much about duel monsters, other than they were guardian spirits that watched over and protected the lives of their chosen person. They had been adapted to card form as a cheap game, but you had yet to get your hands on a deck. “Uh, sort of,” you trailed off.

“Well, I had one, until it left me,” Mai said. “Not too long ago, I lived in Amenhotep. They have beautiful dueling rings there; they’re the best in the kingdom—“

“What’s a dueling ring?” you interrupted.

“I was getting to that,” Mai huffed. “Are you impatient by nature or am I just unfortunate?”

“It’s a bit of both,” you said frankly.

Mai held her head. “Dueling rings are giant arenas for people that are chosen by a duel monster. As it stands, they’re just entertainment for the upper class. It’s like a war that people can watch from the sidelines. You direct your duel monster to attack and you have to find a way to fight through your opponent’s defenses.”

“I see,” you cringed. Though you intentionally bruised your body to increase your chances at getting back home, you detested fighting for sport. It was disgusting; of course only blue bloods could find it entertaining.

Mai continued, “I am— _was_ — a duchess, so I would frequent Amenhotep’s dueling rings. I was pretty good, good enough to last a couple of months with Harpy Lady.”

Mai looked off in the distance for awhile as if she were in a trance; you could hazard a guess Mai was thinking about her duel monster. “She was amazing, absolutely incredible— she was… my best friend,” at that, Mai grit her teeth. “But, like friends in the real world, they’ll just leave you when they don’t need you anymore.”

You did not say anything, not quite sure how to comfort Mai at this point. On one hand, you knew that her train of thought was unhealthy. On the other hand, you did not think Mai would actually listen to you if you tried to reason with her.

“It was so stupid! I was fighting this shady guy in a green robe and I come to find out his duel monster was this giant golem thing! There was no way Harpy Lady stood a chance— she couldn’t even land one scratch on it.” Mai grunted. “You wouldn’t believe it, [Name]. Every time I would try and attack it, it would splash me with water or try and electrocute my Harpy Lady. I’ve never seen that kind of power before.”

“So, is that when Harpy Lady left you?”

“Yes, I figure she thought I was just some weak duelist that she couldn’t be bothered with anymore. I had to pay up so much money for losing that I was thrown in here so I wouldn’t be another useless urchin on the streets.”

A pregnant pause settled between you two and you mulled over what to say. “Don’t you have any kind of family that could’ve helped? You were a duchess, right? Just how much money did you wager?”

Mai shot you a glare as if to say, ‘Don’t go there’ and you held up your hands in surrender. Clearly, Mai was not telling you the whole story but you did not want to get it out of her. Instead, you went with, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not like you could’ve done anything.” she mumbled sourly.

You could not think of anything else to say that would result in a legitimate conversation. In your defense, you could not feel bad for her since it was clearly her own fault she ended up on the streets with no money. But, at the same time, you could never bring yourself to say she deserved it.

A good half an hour passed before either of you spoke again. Surprisingly, it was Mai. “You think it serves me right, huh?”

“No. Do I think you made a poor decision? Sure." you frowned. “But no one deserves to lose their home and be put up for servitude all in one day, Mai. I don’t care where you came from.”

Mai looked at you with something akin to disbelief and admiration. “[Name], I—”

“Would you two shut it?” a man shouted from the other side of the pen. “Some of us are tryin’ to get some sleep!”

Deterred by the upset slave, Mai closed her mouth. She gave you a dismissive nod before she curled into a fetal position on the floor; you lay your back against the slave pen wall. “Goodnight, Mai.” you muttered and brought your knees back to your chest.

The last hour certainly had been eventful and filled with a lot more information than you had anticipated. Of course you were going to probe a duchess for information, especially when it was at no cost to you. You were generally intrigued by Mai’s words though; she had exposed you to a lot more going on outside of Aknamkanon than you had been aware of. Your family tried to dissociate as far away from duel monsters as possible; it had been a grand learning experience.

With that in mind, however, it was a bit odd how Mai’s Harpy Lady left her. If a duel monster was supposed to risk life and limb to protect its duelist, she should not have left Mai like she said she had. Some things did not quite add up.

The sound of the summer cicadas brought you out of your reverie and you realized that it was well into the night. You could not be bothered with Mai’s trifles any longer; you had to be rested for tomorrow so you could be awake as much as possible and plan your escape.

It took you no less than a minute to close your eyes and embrace sleep.


	2. Misconception

Despite the morning sun being high in the sky, very little light found its way inside of the slave pen. Because of this, the sand and grit under your feet was cold; your body was pockmarked with goose bumps. You were aware enough to register the chill and you slowly drifted out of your subconscious. You opened your eyes and you instantly regretted your decision; the pain from getting hit last night had settled deep in your bones. You were convinced you should go back to sleep and try to curl up into a fetal position to stay warm. As fate would have it, you were not so fortunate.

A loud snap resonated throughout the enclosure and you were brought out of your reverie to see a guard brandishing a whip. “Leave your bowls and form a line! Come on, get moving!”

You glared a bit at the guards and slowly stood up; you looked beside you to see that Mai was still sleeping. You placed a hand gently on her shoulder and shook it. “Mai, get up,” you winced when your voice came out raspy. You cleared your throat; you needed some water. “Mai, we have to get up now.”

Mai reluctantly groaned. You continued to shake her until she finally opened her eyes. “What do you mean, [Name]?” she turned her head to see the other slaves being dragged out of the pen by the guards. She hissed before she stood up as well. “Thank you,” Mai nodded. “I hope the next time I see you, it’s under better circumstances…”

“That’s a diplomat’s reply, Mai,” you snorted. “Just say, ‘I hope the next time I see you, your face doesn’t look like shit’.”

Mai’s eyes wrinkled with happiness and she tried to hold in her laugh; she failed miserably. Then, she leaned over to give you a hug.

You returned it for a brief second before one of the sentries forcefully grabbed you. “Did you not hear what I said? Get moving!"

The two of you were forced to disband as you ended up with one group of slaves and Mai was taken with another. The guards took you through an unrecognizable path of hallways and corridors until you were all filed into the house of an auditorium. There were copious amounts of buyers already filling the pit and trying to grab at some of the slaves as you walked by. The guards had you march backstage and get in a single file line and divided you from your age and gender; then, they put slaves that were worth more in the front and slaves that were worth less in the back. You might have been offended in any other circumstance; at this point, if a wealthier master already bought the slaves in good condition, it increased the chances of you being bought into a poor house.

You stood at the back of the line proudly and fingered the hem of your un-dyed cotton, sleeveless tunic; you could hear the auctioneer read off various amounts of money as the slaves were forced out onto the stage.

You were close enough behind the curtain that you could see the crowd undetected when Mai was on stage. She looked scared; her head hung when the auctioneer had her state she had lost her duchy. The audience erupted into laughter. You fought the urge to run out to the apron of the stage and scold the buyers for heckling her; you knew it was not something you could do, however.

When Mai did get bought, she was dragged out into the crowd by a very surly man. You grimaced. He looked like an absolute maniac; his bangs were covered by a tight cap, his hair was an odd shade of black and his eyelids were symmetrically marked with a line going from his eyebrow to his cheekbone. Whoever he was, he looked like he came straight from the pits of darkness.

“Are you paying attention?”

You yelped as a stage hand threw you out onto the auction platform. You barley managed to keep your balance; the slave holders had tied your hands together in front of you so you would not attempt any tomfoolery. You earned some chuckles for your less than graceful entrance. You straightened your back and raised your chin; you had your pride.

The auctioneer ignored you. “The bidding starts at three hundred points.”

You wrinkled your nose. Now you were kind of offended by being sold at a lower price. You had to remind yourself that you made the best decision to get back to your home. No one in the audience said anything for awhile; a few people even walked away from the house pit.

Of course, the thought of looking too troublesome and not getting sold had crossed your mind. You had dismissed it because you did not want to think of not getting bought. The more cowed you were, the more likely you would have been sold for prostitution to conserve space for new slaves. You were not sure what you wanted to do with your virginity yet, but you wanted to lose it on your terms.

A few minutes passed and no one said anything. You could not lie; you were a bit panicked. You wrung your hands in front of you so no one could see them shaking. The auctioneer sighed, bored. “Alright, if no one else—“

 “I’ll go for three hundred fifty.”

You blinked and looked out in the crowd to see one man raising his hand. There were too many people in front of him so you could not get a good look at his face, but you were sure he had said something. At least, you had to believe he said something.

The auctioneer was a bit stunned as well and he waved his gavel. “No other offers?”

There was silence.

“Alright, sold for three hundred fifty,” the auctioneer declared.

The slap of the gavel against the wood of the auctioneer’s podium caught your attention and you realized you were supposed to meet your master.

You were led off of the stage by the auctioneer and outside of the auction house to meet the man who bought you. He looked a bit more mature than you had anticipated— not mature like your grandfather, but certainly more mature than the boys that would talk with you in the market and ask if you fancied marriage. In the full light of the morning, you could see that his skin was lightly tanned. His hair was mostly obscured by a cloak around his neck, but you could see that it was moderately long and a royal purple color. His bangs came to a point on the bridge of his nose; his eyes were a striking bright blue.

“Do you have your points?” the auctioneer ground out. The man nodded curtly before opening his palm and giving him the correct amount of points. You hissed when the auctioneer shoved you and you turned around just in time for him to sneer at you. “Glad I won’t be seein’ the likes of you again,” he drawled. “You’re the reason I ain’t got so much money in this business anymore.”

You narrowed your eyes as the auctioneer left the premises. When you turned around to talk to your new master, he held out a coin to you. You tilted your head and watched with abject fascination as it slowly blackened and turned to dust. “I do not believe he deserves any more money, do you agree?”

Under any other circumstance, you would have laughed and joined in on the mage’s fun. However, you were disappointed. If your new master could use magic so fluently, he probably would do everything in his power to balk your processions at running away and going back home.

  
When you did not say anything for awhile, he narrowed his eyes. “You walk with caution,” he observed. “Do not fret. I am not here to harm you.” He bowed. “I am the Dark Magician. I was instructed by my master to bring you back to him.”

“Wait, your master?” you inquired. “What do you mean?”

“You look to be somewhat informed,” the Dark Magician mused. “Do you know what a duel monster is?”

Immediately, you realized just what you were talking to and felt instantly anxious. Sure, his hair was purple which was a bit off putting but king Yami had spiky hair that was black and magenta with blonde streaks; supposedly, it was all natural. You were completely thrown for a loop; the idea had never crossed your mind when you thought about duel monsters that they could look in any way human. You had pictured giant beasts covered in fur with multiple eyes.

“You look confused, have you thought of something?” he asked cheekily. You frowned but shook your head; you did not want to test the patience of the duel monster. “I’m just peachy,” you murmured. “Didn’t you want to take me to meet your master?”

He nodded before placing his hands over the ropes that bound your hands. You watched as they slowly unraveled and vanished into the air; you rubbed your sore wrists before you watched the Dark Magician mount his gelding and he held out his hand. “Well? Are you coming?”

The Dark Magician asked so politely but you knew if you tried to run, you would most likely be tracked down and he would incapacitate you. Deciding not to take any risks, you let the Dark Magician help you onto the gelding’s saddle. He sat you in front of him and grabbed for the horse’s reigns.

“Oh, I forgot,” he tilted his head. “May I impose on you to ask of your name?”

You turned around in the saddle. “It’s [Name],” you answered flatly.

He seemed satisfied with your answer. “Thank you, [Name].” He slapped the reigns slightly to catch his gelding’s attention. “Go,” he ordered the animal. It slowly started into a trot before it galloped full force down the road and to the countryside.

You wanted to be more upset at the moment, but you forgot how enjoyable riding on the back of a horse could be. You loved having the wind in your face and with the Dark Magician behind you, you were not cold anymore. It was a little bit into the afternoon; anyone who was out tilling the fields waved at the two of you as you rode by.

“Are you smiling?” The Dark Magician asked.

You instinctively frowned; you had to stay completely emotionless.

 _Wait a minute,_ you thought. _How did he—_

You turned around to see him give you an all-knowing smirk.

“When you smile, your body in normally relaxed,” he shrugged. “Your shoulders were slumped and your back was hollow; I could hazard a guess.”

It took all of your self control not to turn around and slap him across the face; you had watched him turn coins into ash. Mai had said duel monsters were capable of summoning strikes of lightening. You were not about to find out what the Dark Magician could do, no matter how much he engulfed you with rage. “What of it?” you leaned forward more to wrap your arms around the gelding’s neck. “Why do you care if I’m enjoying riding on the back of horse? Do you just want to show off that you know so much about human posture?”

“I would be lying if I said no,” he stated frankly.

You rolled your eyes. “Why am I not surprised? You intellectuals are all alike."

The Dark Magician frowned and made his horse pick up the pace. “[Name], you talk to me as though I am human,” he addressed. “Do you not fear me? If that is the case, I would advise against it.”

“Well, you certainly look human,” you said. “I mean— your hair is pretty silly though. Can I insult your hair?”

The duel monster shook his head. “It is just purple. Nothing about it is strange.”

“Come on, it’s just about as bad as Yami’s hair,” you chortled.

A pregnant paused grew between the two of you. You figured you had just insulted the duel monster to the point of being speechless. Feeling satisfied, you thought nothing of it. It was only when you looked up from the back of the horse’s neck when you realized you were far out of the countryside and you were galloping towards a pair of giant stone walls. The brick was a warm brown color, looking giant and cozy under the afternoon light. It would not have bothered you so much until the Dark Magician took you past the giant stone walls and through a set of gates. You were greeted on both sides by lines of knights who bore Aknamkanon’s crest. When the duel monster brought you in front of the castle’s entrance, you realized it was the real deal.

“What?” you murmured.

You turned your head only to be greeted by a completely different person. His skin was a gold tan and his chin was perfectly chiseled. He had the features of a god; his cheekbones were high and set. His brows were proudly arched and framed a pair of beautiful red-violet eyes. You felt your stomach drop in horror when you saw the man’s face was framed by spiky black hair tinted with magenta and was crowned with blonde spikes. “You dislike my hair, [Name]? I’m offended.”

Your mouth opened and closed like a fish as you struggled to speak. “I— _You_ —“

The king just smiled. “A good magician never reveals his secrets.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa. -wipes sweat from brow- This was a doozy. I rewrote it about five times before I settled with this. Did you guys enjoy it? If you did, please drop it a kudo or a comment. It goes a long way.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Have a good night!
> 
> EDIT: Guys, something serious came up and I am not going to be able to update this chapter by tomorrow. I am absolutely sorry to disappoint a lot of you, especially because I wanted to keep to a schedule, but I have a lot of things on my plate at the moment. I do not know when it is going to be posted. I am very sorry for the inconvenience. -Rewind


End file.
